Financial assistance is available for teaching and research. This primarily comes in the form of a teaching assistantship, although some advanced students receive support from faculty grants. The stipends for teaching assistantships are increased regularly and remain competitive with schools nationwide. A teaching assistantship includes a waiver of non-resident tuition of $188.50 per credit hour. Currently stipends for the academic year are $10,600 to $12,900. As students complete stages in the Ph.D. program stipends are increased. The increments occur at the completion of Master's, passing of the written exams and at admission to candidacy. Stipends for summer support are available for some teaching assistants.
Duties of teaching assistants vary. A student without previous teaching experience in English is usually not assigned direct teaching duties during the first year. Instead they are assigned a mentor and receive training in being a teaching assistant. Once teaching duties begin an assistant normally teaches two sections of a lower division course each semester. More advanced students have their loads reduced to one course for one of the two semesters each year.
In addition to the teaching assistantships, there are also a limited number of fellowships available. These are highly competitive and preference is given to students who plan to ultimately pursue a doctor's degree. Graduate students in the Mathematics Department have also been very successful in receiving university fellowships which usually are awarded after one or more years of study.
Resident tuition for graduate hours is currently $102 per credit hour. Some tuition waivers are available for certain highly qualified individuals and minorities. In addition to tuition there are miscellaneous fees totaling approximately $55 per semester for health service and administrative costs. Tuition and fees are revised annually so these amounts should be treated as estimates. Books add another $100 to $300 per semester.